


We Have A Little (And That's A Lot)

by chanyeolk



Category: EXO (Band)
Genre: Christmas, M/M, fluff?
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-12-24
Updated: 2016-12-24
Packaged: 2018-09-11 16:17:10
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,042
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8997898
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/chanyeolk/pseuds/chanyeolk
Summary: Baekhyun doesn't care about everything they don't have. It's the few things they do have that matter.





	

**Author's Note:**

> I know I should post the third chapter of Fifteen Miles Outside of Nowhere, but... Christmas.

Baekhyun smokes the filter for a good three hits before he even realizes the bad taste in his mouth. Then he lets his hand rest outside the car window and the cigarette slips from between his fingers. He watches it bounce on the pavement for a moment in his rearview mirror before the light turns green and he’s off again, speeding through the empty streets at nearly four in the morning. The cold outside numbs his hand, the veins in it constricting until it’s so cold that it actually hurts, but he enjoys the feeling. He likes that it’s cold on Christmas. It’s the way it should be, in his opinion.

Turning onto a side street, Baekhyun ignores a stop sign or two; there aren’t any cars, anyways. The radio is off because he can’t bear any more Christmas songs. If he hears ‘Blue Christmas’ one more time, he’ll cry. Any more renditions of ‘All I Want for Christmas is You’ and he’ll scream. It’s been a long holiday season for Baekhyun.

Up ahead, there’s a convenience store on the right side of the road. He slows, turns into the parking lot. The car ends up partially in another parking space, but it’s not like the lot will fill up any time soon. Inside, it’s warm. His hand slowly gains back feeling. The redness of his fingers fades as blood circulates properly once more.

Baekhyun makes two cups of coffee. The first has three packets of sugar and a splash of mocha creamer, and the other has only a single packet of sugar with nothing else.

“Is this for me?” the man behind the register asks. Baekhyun doesn’t even have to look up to be able to know that he has a goofy grin on his face. He’s seen it so many times that it’s ingrained in his memory, but he wouldn’t have it any other way. He never wants to forget that smile with too many teeth and eyes that sparkle brighter than any Christmas snowfall.

Baekhyun hands him some money. “Of course.”

Chanyeol lets out a deep giggle that Baekhyun would rather receive than any present Chanyeol could ever gift him. He clocks out and takes off his apron, choosing to use his break to enjoy a cup of coffee with Baekhyun. They sit together at a table close to the door.

“I’m sorry that I have to work on Christmas again this year.”

Baekhyun shakes his head. “I’m just glad I get to see you.”

And it’s true. He doesn’t care that it’s four in the morning on Christmas in a convenience store. Chanyeol is here. And wherever Chanyeol is, is where Baekhyun will be too.

Chanyeol rests his hand on top of Baekhyun’s across the table, and it’s big and warm encasing his. He loves the feeling, turning his palm up so he can awkwardly entwine his fingers with the other’s. They’re quiet, but it’s more than enough.

“I love you,” Chanyeol mumbles through a sip of his coffee. It’s muffled and barely understandable, but Baekhyun knows. He knows how loved he is by Chanyeol, so he smiles gently at him because he also knows that Chanyeol is aware of how much Baekhyun loves him back.

When the coffee levels in their cups are running dangerously low, Chanyeol takes his hand back. He has to get back to work soon, even if all he has to do is stand behind the counter of an empty store. Soon, Baekhyun has to get back to his own schedule, too. He thinks about the present back at home for Chanyeol that he still has to wrap, even if he won’t be able to open it until the next day because once Chanyeol gets off of work at the convenience store, he has to go to his next job until late at night.

“I swear one day we will get to spend Christmas together properly. Maybe it won’t be next year or even the year after, but it will happen,” Chanyeol states, back turned to Baekhyun with his fists clenched at his sides. He knows just as well as Baekhyun that it probably will never happen, and maybe that’s why he can’t look him in the eye when he says it. “We’ll wake up together and open presents. There will be so many because I’ll have enough money to spoil you like I want to. We’ll live in a nice house and you’ll have a big ring on your finger. We can make a big breakfast together and watch Christmas movies on cable TV and maybe our families will even come because we’ll be stable and-”

“Chanyeol,” Baekhyun interjects. There are tears rolling down his cheeks when Chanyeol finally looks at him.

Chanyeol looks so angry and desperate.

Baekhyun doesn’t care that Chanyeol didn’t get him a lot of presents. He doesn’t care that they share a mattress on the floor of an apartment with next to nothing else in it. He doesn’t care that there’s no ring on his finger. He doesn’t care that they live off of generic cereal and instant ramen, or that they don’t have cable, let alone a TV. He doesn’t care that he hasn’t seen his family since they found out about him and Chanyeol back in high school.

Nothing in their life together has been easy. There are always money problems and work problems, but Baekhyun is happy. He is content. Most nights he falls asleep with Chanyeol beside him and he couldn’t really ask for much more than just that: having Chanyeol at his side. They don’t have to be well-off or married.

“I want so much more for us,” Chanyeol admits, voice full of remorse like it’s his fault that they have so little.

Baekhyun stands up, leaving his empty cup on the table behind him, and slips his arms around Chanyeol’s middle. He breathes him in; his scent, his existence. This makes all of the hard times worth it, these small moments.

Chanyeol leans down, pressing a kiss and a small smile into the top of Baekhyun’s head. Everything is so perfect at four in the morning on Christmas in Chanyeol’s embrace.

“I honestly couldn’t ask for more than we already have.”


End file.
